Saturday, October 03, 2009

The hole-in-one























There are many reasons to golf: we go to relax, commune with friends or go just for the challenge. There is the beauty and serenity of the golf course that makes a round of golf a unique experience each and every time we go...and that's what makes the game of golf so easy to get hooked on.


So when my friends and I decided to go take a day off work to play The Echelon Club in North Georgia, we were going for all those reasons.


But one of my friends got way more than he bargained for.


When you hear of people hitting a hole in one, you listen with detached interest...because, I guess as it is with a lot of events, unless you're in the moment, you can't understand the passion of being there.


Well, I was there, and I now understand the moment.


It happened on the 3rd hole. At 160 yards on an elevated tee it looks inviting, but throw a sand trap the width of the green...10 mile an hour cross-winds, and a pin placement that made you wonder if the greenskeeper "got any" the night before, and you had all the makings of a snowman in 70 degree weather.

When the ball hit in front of the hole, took one bounce into the flagpole and dropped in, we all cheered as if we had completed an insurmountable task.

We are all part of that event now, forever will our names be on that scorecard that will soon be mounted on his wall...with ball. We four are part of something that we won't forget.

My friend has accomplished something that has odds of roughly 12000 to one. Forever and a day that we play, he will have that on me.

He could have shot 500 that day, but in the end...he was the one that got his ball to fly to the stick and go in.

Yes, passion is a big reason folks golf. But hit a hole in one, or witness one, and you'll be hooked beyond passion. You'll understand the essence of the passion...


...to hit the perfect shot.
Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,
JFB
























3 comments:

Ares said...

Ok, well, this blog is officially costing me money. I wasn't going to go play today, but this hole-in-one story has got me dreaming!

Anonymous said...

A very nice feat indeed, particularly for someone such as myself who has NEVER had a hole in one.

Actually, it's a good thing he was playing an inferior Callaway ball... Had it been a Titleist, the ball probably would have "stuck" or even drawn back a bit, instead, it took a leap foward and into the cup...

Of course I'm just kidding...
Congrats!!

golf magic said...

That is great not many people can sat the same